15 December 2014

The last level of Sokoban Revenge (#306), by Yoshio Sakae, is entitled 倉庫番の巡礼, "Sokoban pilgrimage" (see puzzle below). This is a structure of several columns of 2 floors of width, and occupied by boxes, arranged alternately. The difficulty of this puzzle is that to place a box is necessary move alternately all the other boxes.

This post is dedicated to this typology of puzzles. These are the conditions:

- Two or more rows (or columns) adjacent, connected each other by one or more non-adjacent passages. The rows/columns can also be connected forming various structures: quadrilateral, "cross", "snail", "windmill"...
- The rows (or columns) have a maximum width 2 floors, and are occupied almost entirely by boxes, usually distributed alternately. The goals can be placed in storage areas, but are usually distributed alternately in the rows/columns, on the opposite walls to boxes.

With a few exceptions, I do not include small puzzles (up to 6 boxes), because many have already been published in other "Sokoban lessons".

Author: Thinking Rabbit
Title: Original #23
Date: 1988
First version: Sokoban 2 (1984) #13; later added in Sokoban Perfect (1989) #154. New version in Sokoban Revenge (1991) #72 (Takahiro Suzushima).
Difficulty: 5
Best moves/pushes: 1055/454This is the first puzzle that presents an embryonic structure of "Sokoban pilgrimage". Three central columns and storage area on one end; in the two areas on the right is possible to change the direction of the boxes.

Note that the 9 red boxes have to change to the opposite wall. To do this, we need to move these boxes to the two areas on the right, where it is possible to change the direction of boxes, and then bring them up to the storage area.

Basically, the biggest problem with this type of puzzles is to find these areas where it is possible to change the boxes to the opposite wall. Frequently, locate these areas is not so evident as in this puzzle.

Author: Yoshio Sakae
Title: Sokoban Revenge #208 パバーヌ (Pavane)
Date: 1991. First publication: Sokoban Deluxe (1990) #5-B
Difficulty: 4.5
Best moves/pushes: 251/84Double rotation of the boxes: the boxes on the left rotate clockwise, and the boxes to the right in the reverse direction. Hence perhaps the name of "Pavane", the slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century. This nice theme has also been treated, among others, by Hirohiko Nakamiya, Joy levels #1; David W. Skinner, Sasquatch IV #9, and Microban III #8; Přemysl Zíka, Primus gradus ad Olympo #52...

Author: Yoshio Sakae
Title: Sokoban Revenge #146 扉の向こう側 (The other side of the door)
Date: 1991
Difficulty: 6
Best moves/pushes: 600/160Another exceptional puzzle, previously published in "Big lines". This puzzle, along with the above, I think that they can be considered two of the best puzzles of Yoshio Sakae.

Author: Yoshio Sakae
Title: Sokoban Revenge #306 倉庫番の巡礼 (Sokoban pilgrimage)
Date: 1991
Difficulty: 6.5
Best moves/pushes: 11011/5929 (Johannes Steinmüller)Along with the Nakamiya and 20603 (see below), this is one of the most classic puzzles in this style.

Note that all boxes have to change to the opposite wall. The area for the change of direction of the boxes is the small "tooth" of the top end right.

See a reduced version (perhaps also of Yoshio Sakae) in Ultimate Sokoban (1996) Stage 2 #4-6. See also this mini version of Skinner:

Author: David W. Skinner
Title: Sasquatch III #4
Date: June 2000
Difficulty: 6.5
Best moves/pushes: 818/159Excellent rotatory puzzle. I have taken the freedom of arrange the broken interior angles, in solid angles.

Author: Hirohiko Nakamiya
Title: Nakamiya #10
Date: c. July 2000
Website: miya.s16.xrea.com/selection/bannin/
Difficulty: 7
Best moves/pushes: 9927/3462 (Sokobano)Exceptional rotatory puzzle, within a windmill-shaped structure. It is one of the puzzles more classic in the "pilgrimage style", along with 20603 (see below). How to change the boxes to the opposite wall? You can practice with these two reduced versions, the first of the own Nakamiya:

In fact, it's a puzzle of storage, but it is not easy to see how to load the columns. Very tight.

Author: Vipul PatelTitle: MasterVIP #40 Big march variation 5
Date: June 2008
Difficulty: 7.5
Best moves/pushes: 87035/41088 (MikeArcher)It's raining? Then, this is the perfect puzzle. I don't know how many hours it takes to solve this maxi-pilgrimage, but probably more than 3 hours... In MasterVIP there are 8 variations of "Long march", quite similar: I choose this "variation 5", since it is perhaps the most entertaining. The non-optimized result is about 200,000 moves...

Simple and beautiful. I add 2 boxes, especial version for this post :)

Author: David W. Skinner
Title: Sasquatch X #23
Date: July 2010
Difficulty: 6.5
Best moves/pushes: 253/76 (xbluejimx)Windmill-shaped structure. It is necessary to "invent" the free spaces to change the boxes to the opposite walls...

Author: XiBei TianLang
Title: 通道 (Passage)
Date: December 2010
Difficulty: 7
Best moves/pushes: 454/99Curious and fun puzzle, with three "switches" on the top. Although it has a single row, I include it also in this selection.

Author: laizhufu
Title: T形台—"T" (T-shaped stage - "T") c
Date: 2011.9.23
URL: bbs.mf8-china.com/viewthread.php?tid=72975&extra=page%3D1&page=32
Difficulty: 7.5
Best moves/pushes: 3672/860 Fantastic rotatory puzzle. It is part of the series "Letters", posted by laizhufu and other authors in the Chinese forum MF8 along 2011.

Author: Přemysl Zíka
Title: First levels #246
Date: May 2012
Website: www.zusbreznice.cz/rozvrhy-zika-premysl-sokoban.cz
Difficulty: 8
Best moves/pushes: 818/191 Incredible! In my opinion, is one of the best puzzles of this set... You have to do a lot of maneuvers in the top row to place the first box...

Author: David Buchweitz + Jordi Domènech
Title: The beautiful world of remodels 5 #40
Comment: based on Chrysalis Collection 8 #13, stoned 2 floors
Date: November 2013. Remodel: 2013.11.13
Website: letslogic.com/
Difficulty: 6.5
Best moves/pushes: 271/60 (Tiaoa) You'll have to put your elbows on the table to find out how to solve this small mess, with a box of hindrance.

01 December 2014

The first collection of A1master "1,000,001 candlelights" (100 levels) is a hotchpotch. There are mixed original puzzles of the author, along with versions of other authors; very easy puzzles, almost for kids (#12, 13, 46...), along with other highly difficult and technical... This hodgepodge produces a certain sensation of disorder. However, there are some puzzles surprisingly very good. My impression is that A1master has learned in a few months what others we have taken years to learn.You can download all collections of A1master in Let's Logic, here:

Comment: I
added several boxes, reduced the space and inserted a solid walls.
The hardest part is at the lower half, lightest at the top right.- P.Z.URL: www.zusbreznice.cz/rozvrhy-zika-premysl-sokoban-remodeled.cz

01 September 2014

BrainSport ExtremeZdeněk Šimek / zxretrosoftWebsite: zxretrosoft.iplace.cz/August 2014BrainSport Extreme is a Sokoban game with 100 original levels of medium difficulty, interesting and fun to solve. There is a system of bonus for each level.

The game is automatically saved when you exit program (ESC). You can also save/load intermediate positions at each level.